Getting started

[a guide to learning ed6]

Table of Contents

Welcome to Elemental D6. This page is designed to teach you the basics that you need to know in order to play the game. Let's get started

What is elemental d6?

Elemental D6 is a tabletop roleplaying game, where each person plays the role of a single character, and one person is the game master, who controls the world and takes on the role of everyone the other players interact with

Thematically, the game focus on physical control over the elements and mystical abilities which are fueled by Ki, which is a person's spiritual energy. Ki flows throughout the body, concentrating in seven pools called chakras

The game is set in a vast galaxy which is filled with atmosphere, allowing you to breathe in “outer space”. Special breeds of plant are able to manipulate gravity on a scale large enough to lift large ships off of planets. These plants are crafted into engines and power interplanetary ships with open decks out into space. Space is not the dark, empty void we know, but instead is a glowing ocean of stars with galactic currents that connect the planets

Classes

There are six core classes which you can mix and match to create the foundation of your character

Resolve measures your mental power and is primarily tied to hit points and defense

You generate your ability scores during character creation by distributing a pool of dice between the attributes, and then rolling each stat

Talents

Each class has a set of talents to choose from, each one representing a technique you can learn

As you level up you will receive new talents which you can choose from your classes' Talent Tree (shown right)

You will also receive talent points, which you can spend to improve and customize your talents

Skills

Skills are tasks which do not require Ki to complete but can be mastered through training and practice

As you level up you will get skill points which you can use to purchase additional dice for your skills

To roll a skill check, simply roll your dice for that skill and count the number of '6's that you roll

You will also get to pick a few skill focuses which represent your best skills, and give you bonuses when you roll those skills

Feats

As you level up, you will gain feats which you can select. These represent special techniques your character has mastered. There are general feats, feats to improve your Skills, and feats that are specific to each class

The combat round

Combat begins with each player rolling initiative which determines the turn order. Combat is broken into six second rounds, which are further broken into three segments, which can be thought of as miniature rounds. In each segment:

Players take their turns in order of initiative

On each turn, a player may initiate one of the actions they have available to them

After all players have taken their turn, the segment ends and the next segment begins

After three completed segments, the round ends and the next round begins

In combat, you can take the following types of actions:

Full - A major action that requires the majority of your focus

Standard - Requires roughly half of your focus in a round. Most talents require this

Move - A secondary action which relocates your character

Swift - A minor action. This action option is always available

There is a limit to how many actions you can take in a round. The following combinations of actions are available to you each round:

Full

Standard + Move

Move + Move

In addition to these options, you may always choose to initiate a Swift as your action

Attacking and defending

To make an attack on your turn:

Select a talent that has an Offensive formula, and select a target creature to attack

Each segment, the attack moves toward the target the number of hexes shown in its Speed formula

When the attack gets to the target, you roll the Offensive formula. For this roll, each die that shows a 4, 5, or 6 has a value of 1, which is added to the non-dice values in the formula

Compare your roll to the target's Defensive formula roll. A tie goes to the attacker

If the attack lands, roll your Damage formula, summing the face value of each die

When a creature is the target of an attack that would hit them before their turn, they have the option to defend against the attack if they have an unspent action to do so. If the target chooses not to actively defend, use the target's Reaction instead

Next steps

We've covered the basics of the game, but there is alot more to the game for you to learn and discover. Here are some resources to get you started: